WHEN veteran Peak District campaigner Jimmy Jones was tragically killed in a recent road accident, it was thought the last living link with the historic 1930s mass protest at Kinder Scout had gone.

But it has now emerged that among the campaigners on that day was a terrified 11-year-old Manchester girl who was convinced her actions would lead to her being put behind bars.

Edith Stringer, 81, has described how she joined the protest as one of the youngest members of the Young Communist League, catching the train from her home in Miles Platting to Hayfield, near Glossop, to join the mass invasion to campaign for ramblers' rights in 1932.

Widow Mrs Stringer has told how she can still vividly remember signs nailed to trees warning the trespassers that they would be prosecuted, and how she burst into tears believing that she would be thrown in jail.Following Mr Jones's death, she is now thought to be the last surviving member of the protest to keep the fells open as a public right of way.

Mrs Stringer, who lives in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, joined the protest with her older brother, Walter, and sister Nelly, who have both since died.

She said: "We went on the train. It was a two-shilling (10p) route from where we lived in Miles Platting to Hayfield, where we joined the rest of the protesters. We used to go camping every weekend at Hayfield in an ex-army bell tent, and my brother and sister took me on the protest that day.

"I remember there was a big notice nailed to a tree saying trespassers would be prosecuted.

"I thought I would be locked up and burst into tears. Walter died a couple of years ago and his ashes were scattered on the top of Kinder Scout.

"Nelly used to work at Woolworths in Piccadilly in Manchester, and she would leave work and go for a walk on the moors.

"I think the protest made a big difference.

"A lot of people have thanked the walkers for what they did. I did not contribute a lot, but I was there and in later years I always told my children about it. Now I am the only one still alive as far as I know.

"It was quite exciting at the time. But the only thing I remember was crying because I was frightened of being locked up.

"I can still see those signs nailed to trees saying trespassers would be prosecuted.

"As far as I know I am the only link with the past left."

Mr Jones died in an accident with a car as he crossed the road near his Northenden home earlier this month.